Judge Books by Their Covers

April 21, 2014

First off, Happy Day After Easter. Now let’s hop into business; fun, artsy business at least. And hey, there’s a picture of Pooh, right?

People judge books by their covers. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar, so you better have a good one. There are great tips to get you there, but the first step is finding a designer you trust, you mesh well with and ultimately who you can afford. Money is key, but never sacrifice value.

Not Just a Cover, a Brand

This is not just the flap for your story, this represents your story. This design ultimately represents you. If you plan on doing a series, some elements can be used on all the covers, as consistency is very important.

Legality, Who Owns the Art

This is important to work out, whether you love your designer or not. Who ultimately owns the right for the art? If anything were to happen, does the writer have the right to use it wherever and whenever? This may be a stressful conversation, but an important one nonetheless.

Look in Your Backyard for Ideas

What do you want on the cover? Now, that is a hard question. Look within your genre. What is a standard selling point for Mystery? Drama? Children’s books? Get ideas that way, and also keep in mind how you can stand apart from the crowd. Never settle for blending in. A pointer: dogs sell no matter what apparently. Next time you’re in a bookstore, look at all the dogs. Trust us, we are editors.

I am immensely pleased with the work provided by Jenny Perry and Krystal Pyatt of Pypeline Editing. As a first time author, they were in constant contact with me, answering all of my questions, keeping me apprised of where we were in the process at all times, which allowed us to finish ahead of schedule. I look forward to working with them again in the future.”